The voyage of the [Great White Fleet](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/s/obMCsOnXec) provided constant favorable publicity during Theodore Roosevelt’s last full year in the White House. The voyage also afforded Roosevelt additional leverage in international affairs. In the spring of 1908, when the kaiser was acting petulant regarding a change of ambassadors in Berlin [David Jayne Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jayne_Hill) be in the new ambassador, Roosevelt sent him a soothing missive with a pointed tail. “I trust you notice,” he told Wilhelm, “that the American battleship fleet has completed its tour of South America on schedule time, and is now having its target practice off the Mexican coast.” The president traced the itinerary-Australia, Japan, China, the Philippines, Suez—leaving unsaid that the German navy had never done anything like this. And he couldn’t resist a final note: “Their target practice has been excellent.”
The addition of Japan to the list of stops came at the special request of the Japanese government. Roosevelt recognized that it was not out of friendliness that the invitation arose. The president remained convinced, with statistical reason, that Japan was fudging on visa numbers. And he had no doubt that Tokyo would take advantage of a visit by the fleet to gain every ounce of naval intelligence possible. But he deemed the psychological impact of this formidable display of military power to be worth whatever risks were involved. At the same time he insisted that those risks be no greater than absolutely necessary. He ordered the fleet commander to “exercise the most careful watch thruout the time that you are in Oriental waters.” The admiral must be on the lookout for “fanatics” but equally for misconduct by his own men. “If you give the enlisted men leave while at Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan, be careful to choose only those upon whom you can absolutely depend. There must be no suspicion of insolence or rudeness on our part.” In what was an uncharacteristic display of caution, he concluded, “Aside from the loss of a ship I had far rather that we were insulted than that we insult anybody under these peculiar conditions.”
Source: T.R., The Last Romantic, pages 614-615
Successful_Gas_5122 on
“American battleships don’t explode! It was the dastardly Spanish that blew up the *Maine* I say!”
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The voyage of the [Great White Fleet](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/s/obMCsOnXec) provided constant favorable publicity during Theodore Roosevelt’s last full year in the White House. The voyage also afforded Roosevelt additional leverage in international affairs. In the spring of 1908, when the kaiser was acting petulant regarding a change of ambassadors in Berlin [David Jayne Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jayne_Hill) be in the new ambassador, Roosevelt sent him a soothing missive with a pointed tail. “I trust you notice,” he told Wilhelm, “that the American battleship fleet has completed its tour of South America on schedule time, and is now having its target practice off the Mexican coast.” The president traced the itinerary-Australia, Japan, China, the Philippines, Suez—leaving unsaid that the German navy had never done anything like this. And he couldn’t resist a final note: “Their target practice has been excellent.”
The addition of Japan to the list of stops came at the special request of the Japanese government. Roosevelt recognized that it was not out of friendliness that the invitation arose. The president remained convinced, with statistical reason, that Japan was fudging on visa numbers. And he had no doubt that Tokyo would take advantage of a visit by the fleet to gain every ounce of naval intelligence possible. But he deemed the psychological impact of this formidable display of military power to be worth whatever risks were involved. At the same time he insisted that those risks be no greater than absolutely necessary. He ordered the fleet commander to “exercise the most careful watch thruout the time that you are in Oriental waters.” The admiral must be on the lookout for “fanatics” but equally for misconduct by his own men. “If you give the enlisted men leave while at Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan, be careful to choose only those upon whom you can absolutely depend. There must be no suspicion of insolence or rudeness on our part.” In what was an uncharacteristic display of caution, he concluded, “Aside from the loss of a ship I had far rather that we were insulted than that we insult anybody under these peculiar conditions.”
Source: T.R., The Last Romantic, pages 614-615
“American battleships don’t explode! It was the dastardly Spanish that blew up the *Maine* I say!”